Invaders Game Series, 2015-2017

Invaders is a series of games that I developed between 2015 and 2017. The core game mechanics are based on the 1980s popular Space Invaders game but are expanded into a multi-user experience as multiple players can play the game simultaneously using their phones as controllers. The games were meant to be played on a large screen in a public space by multiple players as a way of banding together for a common cause.

The first iteration of the game was called Buffalo Invaders and it was created as a promo piece of the city of Buffalo, NY. It was presented during the Tri-Main festival in 2015. Another iteration of the game was called Art Invaders and was presented at the opening event of Screen Play: Life in an Animated World exhibition at the Albright-Knox Gallery in Buffalo, 2015. The last version titled Invaders, An Anti-Surveillance Game carries a bit more serious message (full description below). It was part of a group exhibition titled Shape of a Pocket at Squeaky Wheel Film and Media Art Center in Buffalo, 2017.

Invaders, An Anti-Surveillance Game
Invaders is an anti-surveillance, multi-user, Internet game meant to be played in a public space on a large screen with a group of people. As players turn their phones into controllers of the game, they engage in a tomato throwing, in-game battle with surveillance drones that scan the area. The game is a form of protest against the massive surveillance that the U.S. and other governments engage in on their own citizens and citizens of the world. It’s a surveillance that not only compromises personal information and is used as espionage but it’s a form of surveillance that brings death and destruction to civilians who often become so called “collateral damage” in the “war on terror”. As the audience gets engaged in the game-play the dynamics of the game change – the more people take part in the protest, the greater the number of surveillance drones that appear on the screen. Victory is sweet but fleeting as it always takes dedicated players to tip the balance for the people. Perhaps the answer sough in this dynamic exchange between the system and the players is whether we ought to be prepared for constant resistance or whether complete withdrawal or abstinence from participation in the “game” is the only solution.

Buffalo Invaders, an earlier iteration of the game was presented at the Tri-Main Festival in Buffalo, NY, 2015

Art Invaders, an earlier version of the game was presented at the opening event of the Screen Play: Life in an Animated World exhibition, Albright-Knox Gallery, Buffalo, NY, 2015. Click here to view pictures

Art Invaders, an earlier version of the game was presented as part of the Buffalo Game Space showcase at The Buffalo Science Museum, Buffalo, NY, 2015

Invaders, an anti-surveillance game premiered at the Buffalo Game Space meetup, 2015